


Even Idiots Need Best Friends

by IveGotRedHair



Category: All Time Low
Genre: Fever, Prompt Fill, Sickfic, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-05-20
Packaged: 2018-03-31 11:16:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3976069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IveGotRedHair/pseuds/IveGotRedHair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex is determined to go stage no matter what, Jack's ready to catch him when he falls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Even Idiots Need Best Friends

From the moment Alex came off stage that night he knew something didn’t feel right. The buzz that normally left him wanting more hadn’t quite gotten rid of the achy feeling he’d been feeling all day. Deciding to try and sleep his run down feeling off Alex went back to the bus and avoided everyone as they headed out to drink and party. Making sure to shower and get some water Alex curled up in his bunk and hoped he’d feel okay when he woke up. Unfortunately when he did wake it wasn’t to sun light coming through the blinds but a pain in stomach telling him he needed to get to a bathroom... Quick.   
As Alex retched over the toilet for a third time he realised he was still alone. No one had come to see if he was okay so he assumed the bus was still empty, just like his stomach. Leaning back against the wall Alex felt terrible, his stomach refused to settle, everything ached and he felt too hot and too cold at the same time. Groaning Alex managed to pull himself up off the floor and stumble back to his bunk, he hoped to get a bit more sleep before he was woken to be sick again.   
By the band and crew returned Alex had been sick another three times but was luckily sleeping again when his band mates drunkenly stumbled into their bunks. Finally Alex was able to sleep for longer than an hour and didn’t wake again till the morning, he didn’t feel quite as sick as he’d done the night before but his stomach was cramping painfully and he was sure he had a fever. Deciding he couldn’t lie in his bunk forever Alex got up in the search of medicine.   
“Man, you look like shit” Jack said as Alex walked into the front lounge.   
“Thanks” Alex said, mustering the energy for some sort of sarcastic reply.   
“Are you okay? Are you ill?” he asked.   
Alex shook his head and opened the medicine draw, looking for anything that would help feel a little less god damn dizzy.   
“Are you sure?” Jack asked, eyeing Alex’s pale and sweaty appearance.   
“I’m fine, just need to sleep”   
Jack shrugged and didn’t question him again. He knew Alex could be a stubborn ass when he was sick but he also knew the guy could handle himself. If Alex said he was fine, he was... Most of the time.   
Alex found some NyQuil to take that he hoped would knock him out so he’d feel okay for the show. Ugh the idea of playing a show made him shudder, he was having trouble staying standing he had no idea how the fuck he was going to play. Not that would stop him of course, nope Alex Gaskarth goes out on stage no matter what they all did. 

It turned out NyQuil was a bad idea and Alex was throwing it up in the bus toilet not twenty minutes later. He groaned as he went back to dry heaving again, everything was so painful from his throbbing in his head to the way his stomach felt like it was trying to destroy itself from the inside. Alex was slumped against the back wall of the bathroom when there was a knock at the door.   
“Alex, you in there?”   
It was Jack.   
“Yeah” he croaked in reply.   
“Are you okay?”  
“I’m fine”   
“Alex, really? We’ve been listening to throw up for the past half an hour” Jack said.   
Alex groaned again, he really did feel horrible and the idea of sleeping on the couch instead of the floor was pretty appealing.  
“Okay I’m coming”   
Slowly Alex pulled himself off the floor and opened the door, nearly falling into Jack who was standing on the other side.   
“Woah Alex”   
Jack caught him and walked him over to the couch where Matt their tour manager was waiting with the first aid kit.   
“’m not dying Matt” Alex said as Jack placed him on the couch.   
“I think we should let the thermometer will determine that” he said.   
Alex wanted to protest being treated like a child but he felt so sick and wanted to at least get some medicine in him before he threw it up again. He let Matt put the device under his tongue and they waited for it to bleep.   
“102”   
“Shit... What are we going to do?” Jack asked.   
“Reschedule the show I guess” Matt said.   
“No” Alex protested.   
“No I can manage it”   
“Alex, we could literally cook a fried egg on your forehead you’re burning and you haven’t stopped throwing up since you woke up” Jack argued.   
“A bit of medicine and sleep, I’ll be fine”   
“Alex...” Jack tried to protest.   
“Leave it Jack, if he wants to kill himself he can.” Matt said.   
“I’ll be fine”   
Jack didn’t believe him for a minute but what could he do? Alex was set on it and with Alex there was no changing his mind.   
“Let us at least cut the set a bit, you can’t manage 90 minutes” Jack said.   
Alex hated to admit it but Jack was right, he wasn’t even sure he manage ten minutes but he had to give the kids some kind of show, even if it was a slightly shorter one.   
“Okay”   
“I’ll sort it, do you want to go back to bed now?” Jack asked.   
Alex nodded and let Jack help him up and back to his bunk. Before he lay down Jack got him to take some Tylenol and placed a bucket next to his head in case Alex didn’t make it to the bathroom in time. 

By show time Alex was on so many drugs just to keep him standing. He’d spent most of the day trying to sleep or throwing up. He was shivery, shaking and queasy but he was still going on. Alex’s other band mates were just as worried about him as Jack was, they’d all tried countless times to get him to cancel the show but every time he refused. Eventually they’d given up and just agreed to let Zack catch him if he passed out.   
“Are you sure? It’s really not bad if we need to reschedule things sometimes” Jack asked five minutes before they were due to go on.   
“For the last time Jack, yes I’m sure” Alex snapped.   
Jack sighed, well this was it. The lights went down, the crowd scared and all four them walked on stage.   
Just after they finished Lost in Stereo Jack informed the crowd that they’d have to cut the set short due to Alex being ill. Many of them shouted well wishes for him which Alex replied with a quiet thanks into the mic. He was so slow and quiet, a complete opposite of Alex’s normal stage presence Jack tried to make up for it but it just wasn’t the same with Alex so unwell. They just made it through Stella and Alex was beginning to feel sick again, he was swaying on his feet and trying to stop himself from throwing up in front of the crowd. A few moments passed before Alex blotted up the stage, shoving his guitar at Danny as he went. As much as Jack wanted to go running after him he had a duty for the kids, Rian snuck away from his drums and went back stage. Jack apologized to the crowd and continued to talk rubbish to them until Rian came back to tell them Alex was too sick to be coming back. They made it through a few more songs with the help of the singers of other bands on the bill and a few members of the crowd but eventually had to call it night after only 8 songs.   
Jack had never come off stage feeling so unhappy, he felt like he’d let everyone down and then there was Alex, curled up back stage, shivering under a blanket with a bucket nearby.   
“Hey ‘Lex, how’re you doing?”   
“Bad” came Alex’s strained reply before he moved forward to be sick again.   
Jack sat down beside him and rubbed his back until he was done.   
“Shall we get you back to the bus?”   
Alex nodded miserably, he just wanted to sleep. With a bit of help from Zack they got Alex back on the bus, in a clean set of clothes and tucked up on the couch. He found that lying down only made him feel worse so had settled for sitting in the front lounge. Jack had a thermometer in Alex’s mouth why he got everything they needed, a clean bucket, medicine, water and a few good movies. When the device bleeped Jack took out it out of Alex’s mouth and found it read 102.4, slightly higher than earlier.   
“Seriously Alex, why did you think going on stage would be a good idea?” Jack asked, pouring out a dose of medicine.   
“I didn’t want to let the kids down” he mumbled, wincing at the taste of the medicine Jack had given him.   
“Oh Alex, it’s okay to need to reschedule things sometimes, you can’t help that you got sick but you can help you’re self get better”   
Alex nodded in reply and curled up more under his collection of blankets. Jack picked a movie, something made by Disney he thought it was the Jungle Book.   
“Do you want some cuddles?” Jack asked.   
Alex nodded.   
“As long as you don’t mind me being sick on you”   
“Listen here, if you’re sick on me you’re out the band”   
Alex cracked a small smile and shuffled up under the blankets to make room for Jack.   
“You’re such an idiot” Jack chuckled as Alex cuddled into his side, resting his head on Jack’s chest.   
“Like you’ve never gone on stage sick” Alex mumbled.   
“Sick yes, dying no”   
“Not dying ‘m fine”   
Jack chuckled again at Alex’s stupid stubbornness. It didn’t take long for the sick boy to fall asleep with Jack making lazy patens on his stomach.   
In the end they ended up rescheduling three shows as Jack pretty much refused to let Alex anywhere near a stage until he was well again. Alex was forever grateful for his best friend, for always looking out and taking care of him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!   
> A few notes for this one:  
> This was a request for Braelynn so I hope you like it!   
> Part of this was actually based on real events where Alex was so sick on the GK tour that he could okay do 4 songs, bless him.   
> Also I have a bunch of ideas and prompts to do so there'll be more soon.   
> Love you all :) xx


End file.
